Heya. While I consider the Magalies to be my real home, I have for some obscure reason never climbed anything in Boulder kloof. I would like to go rectify that this weekend. My main reason for posting is that I'm bored, but it would be nice to know what to expect from Slipstream and Blood & Chocolate. Normally I wouldn't worry about it, but recent events made me feel a little concerned. My wrists are getting along all right, but I struggle a bit with jams, especially upside down ones. Same goes for laybacks. Never mind the pain, my strength and endurance took a bit of a hit, so I run out of juice when I need to make placements while in above described positions. Can anyone give me some sort of indication of how strenuous / steep these routes are? (If it helps, I climbed the Hourglass the other day without any trouble, I climbed it all the way to the top of the cave before I traversed / squeezed out onto a hanging stance - skipping the normal piton stance a few meters below) I would also like it a lot if the gear is bomber and easy enough to place. I thought I would have no psychological problems after my big fall in the Cedarberg the other day, only physical, but that turned out to be wishful thinking. Basically I'm scared out of my friggen mind to run it out on steep terrain. So much for my hey day when I had no trouble at all setting off on Boggle without a big cam to place after the crux.

Take a big cam & a sling or 2 up Blood & Chocolate to slot in under the roof. Some smaller placements in just above the roof and I remember placing a Camalot #2 about 3/4's of the way up. Hope this helps.

Haven't climbed slipstreem but it doesn't look too bad.

I've also heard people rave about Sabre, but it a wide jam crack so take appropriate gear.

Slipstream: Take some small cams. More footwork than anything else to get through the crux, also there is enough spots to shake out if you are pumped. The mantle right at the end is interesting but not bad. Gear is good. If you have fat fingers you might struggle on some of the laybacking.

Blood and Chocolate, Crux is pulling through roof onto small crimpers. good gear right there. Good save falling.

For a warm up get on: Sweet Sixteen(I think thats what its called) Route by Ulrike Kiefer and tim wilmot. True left of kloof, nice openbook. Nice 16 with good gear.

Boulder Spiral is brilliant at the grade(13)

Red Neck(15) is also good, only gear you need is 0.75 cam, you can almost walk it the whole climb.

Sabre is good, but its proper 19, gear is bomber though.

Raging Bull: Proper 20, not trivial: Good gear, but i remember looking for it a bit, wouldnt jump on it if your not comfortable at the grade. Brilliant route though

CheersIan

Last edited by iank on Thu Jan 14, 2010 12:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I would rate Blood and Chocolate as pretty scary for the grade (although it is safe). Maybe not the best if your nerve is shot. Slipstream is straightforward, safe and fun. Maybe head up Trio. Its only graded 10 but is a vertical jug forest - super fun. Gregarious and Dogrerious are also cool, as long as you can put up with the chossy (easy) first pitch. Like Ian says, Red Neck and Sweet Sixteen are great.Get strong again and then do Sabre. It makes my top ten list in the kloofs any day. 40m of jamming

Hi shorti i can highly recommend the following routes at Boulder: Lancelot 17, Dogarious 17, Gragarious 18, Slipstream 18, and Planxty 19. Blood & Choc also excellent but a bit harder than 18 but good gear as mark and hector say. Have fun...

Those two doggy routes sounds a bit like routes for the grown ups. Maybe I'll try Dirty Dog first, and try the hard ones only when I get my nerve back.

Thanks for the other suggestions too. We (Pierre, Martin and myself) first went up Lancelot, where I got about halfway when I encountered a wasp nest with big angry wasps guarding it. I figured maybe they'll let me place a big cam next to them, but they didn't like it one bit and one of them stung me right on my right nipple. Somehow I didn't fall, but I did teach a little kid watching us with his dad some new kind of language (sorry for that). I promptly decided that the Excalibur open book next to it will do just fine for the rest of the climb. Next up Pierre wanted to go to Raging Bull. The idea was to climb Trio to above Raging Bull's crux, then traverse onto the face and climb to the top. Pierre set off and I was overcome by temptation and asked Martin to clean the gear on my rope too so I can give Raging Bull a bash on top rope and check it out for maybe a red point. What a blinding route! I completely forgot to check the gear on it, it was so good! Martin and I also climbed Slipstream and Planxty, both excellent routes. The gear on Planxty isn't great, but I've seen worse. The piton at the crux is also not needed, a 0.5 friend in the good hold and a #1 nut right of the piton is sufficient. The friend only cams on two lobes though, but the other two wedge like a nut, so I guess it'll be all right. I also understand Slipstream's name, by Jupiter, that thing is slippery in the morning sun! I still don't know what a planxty is.

Is Sweet Sixteen and The Show Must Go On, the same thing? Robert and Freddie climbed it, but it honestly didn't look all that great to me.

Heinrich, I found something for you too. I reckon with your apelike armies you just might be able to free Comanici, or at least a line through the roof, just left of it. It will probably be bloody hard though. I think you'll also like Rhythm of Youth.

Glad you boys had fun.There's a 19 that breaks through the roof left of Comanici. It has a lovely slab start and is fun enough through the roof but then you have to wrangle bush for the next 40m, so all-in-all its not great. Trust the pins on Comanici at your peril!

Rhythm of Youth is 5*, but before Heinrich jumps on that he must onsight Dogstyle - I'll buy him a case of beer if he does. I've even gone to the courtesy of removing the wasps nest below the crux (and yes, they stung me in the eye, and yes I did swear - loudly), so there's no escuse.

I dont know the name of that 16, but its much better than it looks and is basically on the true left, just where the kloof gets really steep.

I'm an engineer not a doctor, so for me, it was in the eye (the soft bit on the outside edge of the eye, not on the eyeball itself). For once I at least had a legitimate excuse to cry on the route...But I had my revenge bwah ha ha There are some homeless wasps in boulder kloof if anyone is feeling charitable...

A 19 through that roof! Left of Comanici? Well I'll be damned! Don't you worry about me trusting dodgy old pins, at the moment I find it hard to trust a bomber hex.

Hector wrote:Rhythm of Youth is 5*, but before Heinrich jumps on that he must onsight Dogstyle

hmmm yes, he's a very busy bloke, I'll have to see if I can fit it into his schedule...

Hector wrote:I'll buy him a case of beer if he does.

ok deal, I'll relieve him of the beer, he's on a very strict diet

I think we are all talking about the same route in the same open book, maybe I'll go check it out some day.

Btw Ian, I didn't find any use for the small cams on Slipstream. Just nuts, hexes and a biggish cam close to the top. Different strokes I suppose About the fat fingers, I think you must file your fingers flat to layback all the way up the thin crack, luckily I've got long arms, If I remember correctly I could only get my fingertips in on 1 or 2 places.

Pierre, no we had a lovely sunny day and I've got a memory like that of an elephant.